I thought I'd revisit a January, 2009 blog post entitled 'The Black Amway/Quixtar Gift From the Dark Side.' I didn't know it at the time, but these so called 'Ribbon' gifts were to become the subject of a class action civil suit in the state of California and eventually another of Amway's famous "out of court" settlements. Of course we have the same answer from Amway that they have provided countless times when corporate Amway has been called to task for treachery before the bar of justice. Amway North America spokeswoman Jenie Altruda said:
“We feel we're completely innocent in this matter."
The controversy began over expiration dates appearing on the black ribbon gift cards. Amway claims that the date appearing on the cards was intended to encourage buyer/recipients to redeem the cards in time to secure the best selection of gifts. (The gifts behind the card are a selection of rather mundane, over-valued candle, potpourri, and bath items.)
How these cards really work describes how Amway Global Cult fleeces its very own and profits handsomely from their only real customers. The intended customers for these gift cards are not 'outside retail customers,' but the very gungho Amway 'dream believing' cult adherents themselves (the so called Independent Business Owners, IBOs). These erstwhile, albeit bad businessmen, are taught by their 'up-line' recruiters to buy, for general self consumption, a significant amount of Amway product, soap powder, vitamins, and sundry consumables each month; all to maintain the magical "PV" (Purchase Volume) which is the core of the Amway 'closed market swindle.' To maintain the magical 100 PV, an 'Ambot' would purchase $300 worth of 'core' Amway products. These core products are those closely manufactured either for or by Amway itself. This smaller subset of available Amway products creates a bit of a 'bottleneck' problem for the cult stooge intent on ponying up their 100 PV 'pound of flesh' because choice is vastly more limited. Core products primarily consist of health bars, vitamins, gourmet coffees, and energy drinks. This invariably leads to 'distributor stock pilling' of the core Amway products.
(My daughter in law's larder began overfilling with uneaten health bars, unused energy drinks, individually wrapped vitamins, gourmet coffees and enough soap powder to wash several years worth of 'whitey tighties.')Add to this short list of high PV core products the Amway Ribbon gift cards. What better way to make PV without stock pilling perishables than to buy these black gift cards with ribbon? These black gift cards might be described as an Amway Utopian savings bond with no shelf expiration date. An Amway product intended to have no end customer beyond the stooge. Of course Ambots could 'consume' these cards as any occasion gifts and still further their Amway dream of becoming an Amway 'pin' in Amway's product based pyramid scheme.
Purchasers of the cards brought suit in California claiming Amway would not honor the expired gift cards which holders discovered actually had just as little shelf life as a stock-pilled, stale health bar. (Again, a situation where Amway cultists turned traitor and brought suit against their primary business partner, the Amway cult mother ship in Ada, Michigan.) These gift cards became relatively worthless fancy black paper. Thousands of thousands of aspiring Amway Cult millionaires were left holding the 'trick' bag on these ticking time bombs. Even when redeemed 'on time' these cards only redeem in my estimation nearly worthless, incredibly overpriced 'trinkets' (like a scented candle or bath soap combination). Not much to show for the minimum $50 retail cost of the card.
Believers in the Amway Myth get fleeced in the Closed Market Swindle by purchase of overvalued products that they buy and self consume in an incredible advanced fee fraud.
